We stayed in bed until 10:00am this morning. We took showers and left the campground to find a drug store, because I still hadn’t gotten my prescription refilled. We found a RITE-AID on Saticoy Street, just a few blocks from BIRMINGHAM RV PARK. It was in a big shopping center. When we pulled in, I said to Eric, “If they have a Starbucks here, I’ll be the happiest girl in the whole U.S.A.!” Eric turned his head to the left and said, “There’s a Starbucks right there!” I couldn’t believe it!
My cousins, Audrey and Minna, in Las Vegas will remember the song Donna Fargo wrote and sang in 1972, part of which went:
Skip-a-dee-doo-dah
Thank you, Lord, for making him for me
And thank you for letting life turn out
The way that I always thought it could be
There once was a time
When I could not imagine
How it would feel, to say
I'm the happiest girl
In the whole U.S.A.
Minna used to play that record so much that we all knew every word. I still think it’s a great song. Recently the song was sung by actress Daveigh Chase, in a 2007 episode of the HBO television series Big Love.
I put in my prescription and they told me it would be ready in an hour, so we decided to go to a restaurant right in the shopping center called ROUND TABLE PIZZA. We had never seen or heard of it before, so we didn’t realize it was kind of a “fast food” place, but they had a salad bar and a nice turkey club, so we decided to stay. I had the personal pizza (which is smaller than a 45 record -- 6.5" -- 4 slices) and the “one trip” salad bar. (Do they arrest you if you go back for seconds, or just humiliate you in front of all the other customers?) Eric had the turkey club, which came with a bag of Lays potato chips. Okay, so it wasn’t the best meal we’ve had in 13 weeks, but it was just fine.
After we finished eating, I still hadn’t gotten a call from Rite-Aid that my prescription was ready, so we went into the RV and both read our books for a while.
I spoke to my cousin, Karen, and we made definite plans to meet for dinner tonight. Then, I spoke to my friend, Joe, and we made plans to meet for lunch tomorrow. So, our schedule was all set!
Eric said his eyes were closing, so he decided to lie down on the couch for a nap and I continued to read, then walked to Rite-Aid to get my prescription, and then walked over to Starbucks. I saw that it was a drive-through, and walked all around the building, looking for the entrance. I saw a door marked “Employees Only”, a window, where you could order while standing outside, and the drive through window, but I didn’t see the main door.
I walked over to the drive-through window and knocked. A young man came to the window, saw I was standing there, and looked at me strangely. “Where’s the entrance?” I asked. He pointed to the other side of the building, so I walked around to the window on the opposite side. He opened the window and I said, “How do you get inside?” He said, “You don’t get inside – you just stand here and order, or drive through.” Well, color me stupid, because in 11,000 miles, and many, many Starbucks (including all the ones in Manhattan, Queens, and Long Island), I had NEVER seen one that was just a walk up or drive through! They didn’t have cake or cookies or sandwiches or yogurt or anything but COFFEE! It was mind-boggling to me! I ordered my latte and walked back to the RV.
Eric and I headed back to the campground. He took a shower while I relaxed and answered some emails. I’ve been really bad lately about getting back to people (and if you wrote me and haven’t heard back, I apologize!). It’s just that by the time we get back into the RV in the evening, I spend an hour or two on the blog and then go to bed!
Anyway, my cousin Karen had kindly offered to pick us up and drive us to dinner since the restaurant we were going to was in Beverly Hills and apparently it’s hard to park around there – especially with an RV! She picked us up around 7:00pm and drove us to CRUSTACEAN, a fabulous Vietnamese seafood restaurant on Santa Monica Boulevard. Her husband, Mark and their son, Max, were going to meet us there, along with Ilene and Kyle. So, we were really looking forward to it.
From the moment you walk in, you are entertained. You can “Walk on Water, because they have a “stream” running through the restaurant, under a glass floor, with big koi swimming around. It was so cool!
We hung out in the cocktail lounge for a while, listening to a jazz quartet, and then were shown upstairs to our table. The owners, the An family, consists of three generations of women. One daughter designed the interior, a recreation of her grandparents’ French Colonial estate in Hanoi. The restaurant has been the focus of articles in USA Today, InStyle, E, Style Channel, and CNN. I love Asian décor, so it really appealed to me.
Eric, Karen and Mark started with Yellow Corn Soup with Crab Meat. Then, we ordered three entrees to share: Roasted Crab – Cracked whole Dungeness crab, AN’s garlic sauce and secret spices; Colossal Royal Tiger Prawns – charbroiled with AN’s Famous Garlic Noodles; and Whole Maine Lobster – charbroiled with AN’s Famous Garlic Noodles. Karen and Ilene had both spoken about how fantastic the garlic noodles were, so we decided to get two dishes with the noodles, and even got a big bowl of just garlic noodles. They were THAT good!
Kyle and Eric at Crustacean:
For dessert, we shared a serving of “Special Trio” which was Pink Ginger Ice Cream, Blackberry Cabernet Sorbet (I kept saying it tasted like wine!) and Apple Sorbet; a Tiramisu, and a Chocolate Lava Cake. Tasty!
As a Pescetarian (someone who doesn’t eat meat or chicken, but eats fish), I was thrilled with the menu and knew – just by the name of the restaurant – that this place would be right up my alley. I was right! Karen made a great choice and we all enjoyed it.
The Jazz Quartet:
Karen, Max and Mark:
The whole crew:
After dinner, we all parted ways and Karen drove us back to the campground. We have been so lucky to see so much family lately – Audrey and Minna in Vegas, and now Ilene, Kyle, Tyler, Evan, Elise, and Karen, Mark and Max. We missed seeing Jason, Karen and Mark’s younger son, as he wasn’t able to come to dinner tonight. We know we will be seeing more of them all, now that we are all on the same coast (or close to it)!